Vital records, as their name suggests, are connected with central life events: birth, marriage, and death. Maintained by civil authorities, they are prime sources of genealogical information; but, unfortunately, official vital records are available only for relatively recent periods. These records, despite their recent creation in the United States, are critically important in genealogical research, often supplying details on family members well back into the nineteenth century. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking.
Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
150 Mount Vernon St., 1st Fl.
Dorchester, MA 02125-3105
Main Telephone: (617) 740-2600
The cited fee is for mail requests; other requests may be less expensive. Check or money order should be made payable to Registry of Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current fees, the telephone number is (617) 753-8600 . This will be a recorded message.
Mail order Form
(Requires Acrobat Reader)
Birth Cost: $18.00
State office has records beginning 1901. For earlier records, write to The Massachusetts Archives.
Death Cost: $18.00
State office has records beginning 1901. For earlier records, write to The Massachusetts Archives.
The Plymouth Colony Archive Project at the University of Virginia
Divorce Cost: Varies
Index only beginning 1952. Certified copies are not available from State office, which will direct inquirer where to send request. Records may be requested directly from the Registrar of Probate Court where divorce was granted.
Marriage Cost: $18.00
State office has records beginning 1901.
Attleboro, Massachusetts – The Sun Chronicle
Online Vital Records
Free Massachusetts Vital Records
This is a collection of free vital records books, otherwise known as "Tan Books" for Massachusetts towns. Generally, these records go up to 1849/1850 at which, the genealogist can use the census records to assist in identifying the family connections further. Included with this article is an account of why and how these manuscripts were published along with links to all 198 books which can be freely read or downloaded.
Vital & Church Records (paid database, free search)
This collection contains records from the following towns: Abington, Acton, Arlington, Ashburnham, Ashfield, Bellingham, Boston, Bradford, Brimfield, Brockton, Carver, Chester, Dartmouth, Dover, Dracut, Ebridge, Essex, Framingham, Gill, Granville, Groton, Holden, Holliston, Hopkinten, Hummards, Lawrence, Lexington, Lincoln, Lynn, Medford, Medway, Middlefield, Montgomery, New Ashford, New Bedford, New Braintree, Pembroke, Rehobeth, Richmond, Shelburne, Shrewsbury, Shirley, Sturbridge, Taunton, Templeton, Tewksbury, Tisbury, Tyringham, Wayland, Washington, Watertown, Westminster, Westport, West Springfield, Winchendon, Windsor, and Worthingham.
Barnstable County
Berkshire County
- Egremont
- Great Barrington to 1800
Pittsfield to 1850 (Deaths Only)
Bristol County
Dukes County
Essex County
Franklin
Hampden
Hampshire
Middlesex
Norfolk
Suffolk (many of these towns later appeared in other counties)
Worcester County
Ancestry.com Boston Vital Records, 1630-99
Believed to contain all the birth, marriage, and death records of the first seventy years of Boston, this work was intended to be comprehensive. As a result this database contains over thirty thousand vital records as reported to the Records Commission between 1630 and 1699. In addition to these vital records, baptisms in the Boston First Church for the same time period are included. The database is organized by year and category (i.e. birth, marriage, and death, respectively) and nearly every entry includes parents (in births) and spouses (in marriage and deaths) along with the date of the event. (Requires Ancestry.com Membership) Get 14 Days Free Access!!!
Ancestry.com Massachusetts State Database
A large collection of databases of births, deaths, marriages, census, obituaries, directories, estate records, and service records. Get 14 Days Free Access!!!